This Podcast Audio Drama is episodic and doesn’t have a clear “ending” as of this writing, there are 54 episodes of this particular show.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: Audio Drama
Title: The Red Panda Adventures (as presented by The Decoder Ring Theater Podcast.)
Written by: Decoder Ring Theater is made up of a company of folks, but I believe that the episodes are written by the leader of sorts Gregg Taylor. This is actually the second “run” of episodes, as the first few recorded episodes were recorded long, long ago, and were deemed too “silly”.
I found it at: Their feed on iTunes. As I mentioned in my review of Black Jack Justice my husband found the feed and brought it to my attention for the continuing adventures of that particular show. The Red Panda Adventures was included in the feed as well as a “Summer Showcase” with extra shows, another mini-series, and much more. After some debating, I finally decided to give this show a listen.
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 5/5 – This company is truly wonderful. All of the actors are superb and I really love listening in this particular show for voices that I recognize from Black Jack Justice. I’m a little weird like that. *laugh*
Overall Production Quality: 5/5 – I’m not sure where this production group gets their sound effects, but other producers of audio drama should really find out and take note. The music appears to be written and performed on an organ specifically for each episode. It really has an old-time super-hero radio drama feel to it that I’m finding enjoyable.
Comments: This show is not at all what I expected. It is part vigilante justice, part super-heroics, part just-before-WWII fiction, part love story, part cheese, and all entertainment. Add in a dash of magical mysteries and mad science and you have The Red Panda Adventures. The writing is amazing and the characters and situations really come to life in your ears. The interplay between the two main characters, The Red Panda (voiced by none other than Gregg Taylor) and his new partner The Flying Squirrel (voiced by Clarissa Der Nederlanden Taylor) is a lot of playful banter and often some hints of romantic innuendo. You find out rather quickly that a certain Flying Squirrel is in love with a certain Red Panda.
When the dynamic duo are not out hunting down crime-committers and evil super villains, they disguise themselves as their alter-egos. The Red Panda being one of 1930’s Toronto’s wealthiest young bachelors (you don’t find out his name until episode 48 and I don’t want to give it away. ^_~) and The Flying Squirrel is his young lady driver Kit Baxter. It is revealed from the get-go that the reason that Kit becomes the Flying Squirrel is because she finds out about The Red Panda and demands to be included in his crime-fighting adventures. It’s amusing that it seems that rather than be scared of his identity as the Red Panda and the danger that comes with it, she is actually attracted to it and it makes her fall for him harder. She tries to make her feelings known subtly as she can, but she is often rebuked with “Kit Baxter, behave yourself.” And she usually answers with a resigned “Yes, boss.” (Though not always. *laugh*)
Overall I found this series to be very enjoyable, exciting and amusing. There are a few awesome twists that hit the duo starting with episode 36, so I really recommend listening to them all and in order. But as always, I don’t want to give them away. Download the episodes and listen for yourself!
Because the Decoder Ring Theater podcast feed includes Black Jack Justice, The Red Panda Adventures and other stuff, they alternate the series and release them in groups. A group of Black Jack Justice, then a group of Red Panda, and back again. They’ve just announced that their release schedule is now the 1st and 15th of every month.
Overall Score: 5/5 –I wasn’t sure at first that this kind of show would be my cup of tea. However, after the first four episodes, I was hooked! It’s worth a listen and if you enjoy it please spread the word. Go! Download it! Listen! Now! :D The episodes can also be found on their website linked below to listen to it on your computer if you have an Mp3 player that’s not in iPod/iPhone or don’t have one at all.
Author’s Website: http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/index.htm
Story Website: http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/redpanda/
Search “Decoder Ring Theater” on iTunes.
This was Part 2 of a double show review. If you missed it, please click here for the first part where I review Decoder Ring Theater’s other show, Black Jack Justice.
Reviewer’s Note: If you enjoy either of these programs, please consider voting for Decoder Ring Theater in the Roundtable Awards they have been nominated for by the Chronic Rift Podcast. More information on that HERE.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Double Review: Part 1 of 2 – Decoder Ring Theater’s Black Jack Justice
This Podcast Audio Drama is episodic and doesn’t have a clear “ending” as of this writing, there are 36 episodes of this particular show.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: Audio Drama
Title: Black Jack Justice (as presented by The Decoder Ring Theater Podcast.)
Written by: Decoder Ring Theater is made up of a company of folks, but I believe that the episodes are written by the leader of sorts Gregg Taylor. The concept of Black Jack Justice was originally created as a stage play, but the author of that is unknown. (I couldn’t find it)
I found it at: I initially found the Podiobooks.com feeds for season 1 and season 2 (episodes 1- 18). After listening to them all and enjoying them quite a bit, I was amazed when my husband discovered that Decoder Ring Theater had their own feed in iTunes which not only continued the adventures of Black Jack, but also featured The Red Panda Adventures (coming in Part 2 of my review) as well as a “Summer Showcase” with extra shows, another mini-series, and much more.
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 5/5 - The voice acting in this series is top notch. The characters are believable, brought to life by the amazing cast. Christopher Mott plays the title character while Andrea Lyons plays Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective. Most of the rest of the Decoder Ring Theater cast play various secondary characters and you can really tell that they adapt well to the various roles.
Overall Production Quality: 5/5 – This podcast audio drama is excellent. Between the wonderful voice acting and the brilliantly appropriate music and other sound effects, you really can bring to life in your mind the situations that Jack, Trixie and the rest of their gang of mystery misfits find themselves in.
Comments: Styled in the classic sort of film-noir, hard-boiled detective story, Black Jack Justice brings the listener back “to a time when men were men, women were dames and everyone wore hats.” (Quoted from my initial listening of the show off the Podiobooks feed.). I believe the series is set sometime after WWI. It features two licensed private detectives, the decidedly hard-boiled title character Black Jack Justice and his partner the sharp-tongued, quick-witted Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective. The banter between the two main characters is often fast-paced and witty as all hell. You cannot help but laugh as they go at it, again and again. While they have a partnership, often they purposely act as if they can’t stand the other. Though, it doesn’t take a genius to read between the banter and realize they care more for each other than they let on.
This is primarily shown in my current favorite episode, #9 – No Justice. In this episode, Jack and his “pal” Freddy “The Finger” Hawthorne have managed to get themselves into trouble and they both go missing. It’s up to Trixie and her new “partner” Lt. Vick Sabien (not sure on the spelling of that. Feel free to correct me in comments Gregg! *lol*) to find the pair before it’s too late. The reason that this episode is my favorite is because of the following exchange that takes place after Trixie punches the daylights out of someone with a “$4 special”
After that exchange, I had to pause my iPhone because I was laughing too hard. Moments like that are what make this series so entertaining.
The series is episodic, which means that theoretically, you could listen to episode 14 or whatever first and not feel like you missed much of anything. While that is certainly true, I do recommend getting all the episodes and listening to them in order as there are elements from early shows that carry over into later shows. (I won’t mention them, as I am trying to prevent too many spoilers.)
Because the Decoder Ring Theater podcast feed includes Black Jack Justice, The Red Panda Adventures and other stuff, they alternate the series and release them in groups. A group of Black Jack Justice, then a group of Red Panda, and back again. They’ve just announced that their release schedule is now the 1st and 15th of every month.
Overall Score: 5/5 – Definitely worth a listen, even if you aren’t sure that hard-boiled detectives are your thing. Go! Download it! Listen! Now! :D The episodes can also be found on their website linked below to listen to it on your computer if you have an Mp3 player that’s not in iPod/iPhone or don’t have one at all.
Author’s Website: http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/index.htm
Story Website: http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/blackjackjustice/
Search “Decoder Ring Theater” on iTunes.
Please Stay Tuned for Part 2 – A review of Decoder Ring Theater’s other big series, The Red Panda Adventures.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: Audio Drama
Title: Black Jack Justice (as presented by The Decoder Ring Theater Podcast.)
Written by: Decoder Ring Theater is made up of a company of folks, but I believe that the episodes are written by the leader of sorts Gregg Taylor. The concept of Black Jack Justice was originally created as a stage play, but the author of that is unknown. (I couldn’t find it)
I found it at: I initially found the Podiobooks.com feeds for season 1 and season 2 (episodes 1- 18). After listening to them all and enjoying them quite a bit, I was amazed when my husband discovered that Decoder Ring Theater had their own feed in iTunes which not only continued the adventures of Black Jack, but also featured The Red Panda Adventures (coming in Part 2 of my review) as well as a “Summer Showcase” with extra shows, another mini-series, and much more.
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 5/5 - The voice acting in this series is top notch. The characters are believable, brought to life by the amazing cast. Christopher Mott plays the title character while Andrea Lyons plays Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective. Most of the rest of the Decoder Ring Theater cast play various secondary characters and you can really tell that they adapt well to the various roles.
Overall Production Quality: 5/5 – This podcast audio drama is excellent. Between the wonderful voice acting and the brilliantly appropriate music and other sound effects, you really can bring to life in your mind the situations that Jack, Trixie and the rest of their gang of mystery misfits find themselves in.
Comments: Styled in the classic sort of film-noir, hard-boiled detective story, Black Jack Justice brings the listener back “to a time when men were men, women were dames and everyone wore hats.” (Quoted from my initial listening of the show off the Podiobooks feed.). I believe the series is set sometime after WWI. It features two licensed private detectives, the decidedly hard-boiled title character Black Jack Justice and his partner the sharp-tongued, quick-witted Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective. The banter between the two main characters is often fast-paced and witty as all hell. You cannot help but laugh as they go at it, again and again. While they have a partnership, often they purposely act as if they can’t stand the other. Though, it doesn’t take a genius to read between the banter and realize they care more for each other than they let on.
This is primarily shown in my current favorite episode, #9 – No Justice. In this episode, Jack and his “pal” Freddy “The Finger” Hawthorne have managed to get themselves into trouble and they both go missing. It’s up to Trixie and her new “partner” Lt. Vick Sabien (not sure on the spelling of that. Feel free to correct me in comments Gregg! *lol*) to find the pair before it’s too late. The reason that this episode is my favorite is because of the following exchange that takes place after Trixie punches the daylights out of someone with a “$4 special”
Lt. Sabien: “Speaking of sharks, where’d you learn to punch like that?”
Trixie: “At school.”
Lt. Sabien: “Public or Private?”
Trixie: “Reform. So I guess you could say a little of both.”
Lt. Sabien: “Lady Law-and-Order?! A juvie?!” *Chuckles*
Trixie: *sighs* “Save it.”
Lt. Sabien: “What’d ya do?”
Trixie: “I beat a police lieutenant to death for forgetting what he was supposed to be doing when my partner’s life was at stake! Oh sorry, that’s what I’m about to do.
Lt. Sabien: *dryly* Roger that, resuming search.
After that exchange, I had to pause my iPhone because I was laughing too hard. Moments like that are what make this series so entertaining.
The series is episodic, which means that theoretically, you could listen to episode 14 or whatever first and not feel like you missed much of anything. While that is certainly true, I do recommend getting all the episodes and listening to them in order as there are elements from early shows that carry over into later shows. (I won’t mention them, as I am trying to prevent too many spoilers.)
Because the Decoder Ring Theater podcast feed includes Black Jack Justice, The Red Panda Adventures and other stuff, they alternate the series and release them in groups. A group of Black Jack Justice, then a group of Red Panda, and back again. They’ve just announced that their release schedule is now the 1st and 15th of every month.
Overall Score: 5/5 – Definitely worth a listen, even if you aren’t sure that hard-boiled detectives are your thing. Go! Download it! Listen! Now! :D The episodes can also be found on their website linked below to listen to it on your computer if you have an Mp3 player that’s not in iPod/iPhone or don’t have one at all.
Author’s Website: http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/index.htm
Story Website: http://www.decoderringtheatre.com/blackjackjustice/
Search “Decoder Ring Theater” on iTunes.
Please Stay Tuned for Part 2 – A review of Decoder Ring Theater’s other big series, The Red Panda Adventures.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Apologies
I won't have a review for this week. I've been sick for the last week and barely have the energy to keep up with my homework let alone extra stuff like this blog. :(
I apologize for this. I hope to make it up to you by having a double review next week of two different shows from the same podcast feed. The Red Panda Adventures and Black Jack Justice both from Decoder Ring Theater. They are not "completed" per say, but they are mini-stories in episodic form and there are several episodes of each out so that by the time I post the review, anyone wanting to check them out will have plenty to catch up on.
Anyway, it's entirely too late and I need to get my coughing butt to bed. Thanks for reading!
Jennilee
I apologize for this. I hope to make it up to you by having a double review next week of two different shows from the same podcast feed. The Red Panda Adventures and Black Jack Justice both from Decoder Ring Theater. They are not "completed" per say, but they are mini-stories in episodic form and there are several episodes of each out so that by the time I post the review, anyone wanting to check them out will have plenty to catch up on.
Anyway, it's entirely too late and I need to get my coughing butt to bed. Thanks for reading!
Jennilee
Friday, January 29, 2010
Review: Echoes
This Podcast Novel is completed.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: Podcast novel
Title: Echoes
Written by: Nathan P. Butler
I found it at: Podiobooks.com feed through iTunes
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 3/5 - Not sure if the author is reading this or not, (It's never mentioned, so I assume that the reader is the author. Usually if someone else reads it, they are given a credit at the beginning of an episode.) but whoever is reading this? SLOW DOWN. We get that it's an exciting story. But honestly, it was hard to get used to the reader's pace at first. The reader does a good job of making the character voices in dialog distinctive, but it still a bit too fast.
Overall Production Quality: 4/5 Could have used intro/outtro music. It's not required, but it does make for a more dynamic experience. The only positive to having JUST the story in this podcast novel, is that there are no ads. Each Episode is very short compared to other podcast novels. The longest coming in at 13 minutes and 27 seconds. Most podcast novels are about two to three times longer.
Comments: This one was one of the first non-fantasy-world podcast novels that I found. I think I found a group of three the same round of Podiobooks feed shopping in iTunes. This was the first one of the three that I listened to. (And reviews of the other two are coming.) It seems that this particular author does primarily Star Wars Fandom work and this is his first attempt at something original. It's a good story, and I enjoyed it very much. I think he might have done a few things differently as far as reading. (Like I said above: SLOW DOWN.) but these are just my opinion. It's possible that I've been listening to too many podcast novels that are hugely produced. The fact that the episodes are so short presented an interesting dilemma to me. Normally, I listen to these novels at work because I work with files and it helps the time go by. But the total of this novel clocks in at 3.1 hours and my shifts are 5 hours long. Normally I'm used to listening to 6 or 7 episodes of longer podcast novels and completing one (or catching up with one) in a week. I solved this by using the other 1.9 hours catching up on new episodes of podcasts that are not completed. So just to warn anyone considering this one, it's shorter than many others that I'll review here.
Other than these nitpicks, the story is a good one. It follows Atlanta Homicide Detective Darren Fox as he tries to solve a very strange murder that was committed in Atlanta, but has connections to congressmen in Washington D.C. The politics and relationships between the characters make this story dynamic and interesting. There's an interesting twist about...I think half-way through. I don't want to give it away though. I try to make these as spoiler free as possible.
Overall Score: 4.5/5 – If you enjoy mysteries and can pay attention to the fast reading, then give Echoes a try.
Author’s Website: http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/
Story Website: http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/echoes/index.html
Search “Echoes” on iTunes.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: Podcast novel
Title: Echoes
Written by: Nathan P. Butler
I found it at: Podiobooks.com feed through iTunes
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 3/5 - Not sure if the author is reading this or not, (It's never mentioned, so I assume that the reader is the author. Usually if someone else reads it, they are given a credit at the beginning of an episode.) but whoever is reading this? SLOW DOWN. We get that it's an exciting story. But honestly, it was hard to get used to the reader's pace at first. The reader does a good job of making the character voices in dialog distinctive, but it still a bit too fast.
Overall Production Quality: 4/5 Could have used intro/outtro music. It's not required, but it does make for a more dynamic experience. The only positive to having JUST the story in this podcast novel, is that there are no ads. Each Episode is very short compared to other podcast novels. The longest coming in at 13 minutes and 27 seconds. Most podcast novels are about two to three times longer.
Comments: This one was one of the first non-fantasy-world podcast novels that I found. I think I found a group of three the same round of Podiobooks feed shopping in iTunes. This was the first one of the three that I listened to. (And reviews of the other two are coming.) It seems that this particular author does primarily Star Wars Fandom work and this is his first attempt at something original. It's a good story, and I enjoyed it very much. I think he might have done a few things differently as far as reading. (Like I said above: SLOW DOWN.) but these are just my opinion. It's possible that I've been listening to too many podcast novels that are hugely produced. The fact that the episodes are so short presented an interesting dilemma to me. Normally, I listen to these novels at work because I work with files and it helps the time go by. But the total of this novel clocks in at 3.1 hours and my shifts are 5 hours long. Normally I'm used to listening to 6 or 7 episodes of longer podcast novels and completing one (or catching up with one) in a week. I solved this by using the other 1.9 hours catching up on new episodes of podcasts that are not completed. So just to warn anyone considering this one, it's shorter than many others that I'll review here.
Other than these nitpicks, the story is a good one. It follows Atlanta Homicide Detective Darren Fox as he tries to solve a very strange murder that was committed in Atlanta, but has connections to congressmen in Washington D.C. The politics and relationships between the characters make this story dynamic and interesting. There's an interesting twist about...I think half-way through. I don't want to give it away though. I try to make these as spoiler free as possible.
Overall Score: 4.5/5 – If you enjoy mysteries and can pay attention to the fast reading, then give Echoes a try.
Author’s Website: http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/
Story Website: http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/echoes/index.html
Search “Echoes” on iTunes.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Reivew: Murder at Avedon Hill
This podcast novel is completed.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: This one kind of blurs that line. It’s technically a podcast novel, but there is a lot of voice acting in this, several parts played by other podiobooks.com veterans.
Title: Murder at Avedon Hill
Written by: P. G. Holyfield
I found it at: Podiobooks.com feed through iTunes
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 4/5 – With some volume issues and some quality issues in some episodes, I couldn’t give it 5, but it was still quite good.
Overall Production Quality: 4/5 – Sometimes the ads and “story-so-far” parts bugged me, but on the whole, it was good. The intro and outro music were both very good as well.
Comments: I wasn’t sure about this story in the beginning. I love mystery and suspense though, so after hearing an ad for it on…I think it was Playing for Keeps…I decided to go and look it up. I had a slight problem in listening to it at first. We were in the process of organizing our spare bedroom/office and our PC that had all our music on it was unhooked and awaiting its setup. I downloaded it through iTunes on my iPhone and managed to get to Episode 17 when we finished. I plugged my iPhone in to sync and try to download the rest of it. Before I could finish? The desktop crashed. Meaning we had to not only fix it, but re-transfer our music and re-download all of our podcasts. Despite the fact that this is my first review, I’d already had probably a good 10 podcast novels and audio dramas. I had to download them all over again. >_< 4 days later, I’d finally managed to get all of the novel listened to. I finished it this evening and I have to say, this is one of the most interesting mysteries I’ve listened to in a long time. Not only is this a murder mystery, it’s also set in an amazing fantasy setting that it seems that Mr. Holyfield has plotted all out, but still only shows us a portion of it in this story. He created a whole pantheon of deities, the children of a father deity who can choose to live mortal lives. Plus the possibility of magic, vampires, moon beasts, and a murder of a woman called a “house mistress” where that title is a misnomer of sorts. The reader is taken down an insane spiral of twists, turns and secrets as the author reads the part of Arames Kragen and his student Arrin as they try to solve the murder of the Avedon Manor House Mistress Gretta Platt. If you don’t mind some violence, a lot of twists, and all the above-mentioned elements, this is the podcast for you! I rather enjoyed it. Overall Score: 4.5/5 – If mysteries are your thing, Add this to your list!
Author’s Website: http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/
Story Website: http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/maah
Search “Murder at Avedon Hill” on iTunes.
Podcast Novel or Audio Drama: This one kind of blurs that line. It’s technically a podcast novel, but there is a lot of voice acting in this, several parts played by other podiobooks.com veterans.
Title: Murder at Avedon Hill
Written by: P. G. Holyfield
I found it at: Podiobooks.com feed through iTunes
Reading/Voice Acting Quality: 4/5 – With some volume issues and some quality issues in some episodes, I couldn’t give it 5, but it was still quite good.
Overall Production Quality: 4/5 – Sometimes the ads and “story-so-far” parts bugged me, but on the whole, it was good. The intro and outro music were both very good as well.
Comments: I wasn’t sure about this story in the beginning. I love mystery and suspense though, so after hearing an ad for it on…I think it was Playing for Keeps…I decided to go and look it up. I had a slight problem in listening to it at first. We were in the process of organizing our spare bedroom/office and our PC that had all our music on it was unhooked and awaiting its setup. I downloaded it through iTunes on my iPhone and managed to get to Episode 17 when we finished. I plugged my iPhone in to sync and try to download the rest of it. Before I could finish? The desktop crashed. Meaning we had to not only fix it, but re-transfer our music and re-download all of our podcasts. Despite the fact that this is my first review, I’d already had probably a good 10 podcast novels and audio dramas. I had to download them all over again. >_< 4 days later, I’d finally managed to get all of the novel listened to. I finished it this evening and I have to say, this is one of the most interesting mysteries I’ve listened to in a long time. Not only is this a murder mystery, it’s also set in an amazing fantasy setting that it seems that Mr. Holyfield has plotted all out, but still only shows us a portion of it in this story. He created a whole pantheon of deities, the children of a father deity who can choose to live mortal lives. Plus the possibility of magic, vampires, moon beasts, and a murder of a woman called a “house mistress” where that title is a misnomer of sorts. The reader is taken down an insane spiral of twists, turns and secrets as the author reads the part of Arames Kragen and his student Arrin as they try to solve the murder of the Avedon Manor House Mistress Gretta Platt. If you don’t mind some violence, a lot of twists, and all the above-mentioned elements, this is the podcast for you! I rather enjoyed it. Overall Score: 4.5/5 – If mysteries are your thing, Add this to your list!
Author’s Website: http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/
Story Website: http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/maah
Search “Murder at Avedon Hill” on iTunes.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Intro Post
I'm starting this blog as a means to make myself write more, and as a means to recommend preferred podcast novels or podcast audio dramas to my friends and readers. The first review will be posted next week. I plan to have a new post up each week.
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